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One of the most difficult things about the garden is getting going again after that long Winter break but there’s really only a few things that need doing so that your family can make the most of the garden when you get a nice run of warm(ish) weather. I hope this handy checklist help you too.
Mowing the lawn (if the lawn mower can take it)
Hands down one of the biggest problems is the near on foot long grass that needs a trim. If you’ve been following expert gardeners then you’ll probably have cut the grass in November the year before as one of the last things to prepare the garden for winter. The problem is my little lawn mower didn’t have enough grunt to get it done but that turns out to just be me not really thinking about the maintenance of my garden tools.
Sharpen your lawn mower blades
As it turned out my lawn mower was plenty powerful enough, the problem (as I now know) was the blades needed a good sharpen. I guess I must of hit the odd rock and when the grass is already in good order you don’t notice the lack of performance so much, just as well, I was ready to throw the towel in and buy a new lawn mower. A quick sharpen of the blades though and I totally avoided that unnecessary cost of a new mower.
If you think that a sharpening stone only set me back a few quid it literally saved me £140 on the model I had my eye on. All in all, a great saving so thanks to the husband in order here.
Clean up the barbecue (if you didn’t do it late last year).
One thing that always seems to get missed in our house is cleaning up the barbecue. In honesty, we have all normally had a good drink on a long summer evening in the garden and the last thing on your mind is scrubbing down the grille for the next one! Don’t fear though, there’s some super handy tricks I picked up from going round friends over the Summers.
Firstly if you have a charcoal barbecue then just pop yourself plenty of kindling wood on prior to the charcoal and get the flames going. This will turn all the nasty blackened bits into ash. If you have a gas barbecue just turn it full blast and close the lid. This will have the same effect and then the ash wipes down really easily with a wire brush. You can’t ask for more sterilised or clean ready for the next barbecue.
Give the garden a bit of a tidy up
Things always fall about in the wind, the odd wrapper finds its way into the garden, the kids bikes and toys are laying around; nothing has more impact, more quickly than a quick tidy up. Half an hour organising the kids toys makes a huge difference on the overall look of your garden. It’s also necessary for cutting the lawn anyway so you might just as well get stuck in. Even if the family doesn’t benefit from it you’ll feel so much better not staring at a huge mess whilst trying to enjoy the first warm weather of the Summer this year.
